Don't expect Streisand to try to match Rihanna's often revealing selfies. Her Twitter pics have been pretty tame, such as one photo of her with Sen. John McCain.

Her tweets have not been written in a first-person voice, suggesting she relies on a publicist to handle her social networking.

Streisand could learn from how Elizabeth Taylor used Twitter to connect with her fans in the last two years of her life. The legendary actress personally posted tweets on her smart phone, including messages from her hospital bed.

"I like the connection with fans and people who have been supportive of me," Taylor said when Kim Kardashian asked about Twitter in an interview just before her death in 2011. "And I love the idea of real feedback and a two-way street, which is very, very modern. But sometimes I think we know too much about our idols and that spoils the dream. So, like all things, it is to be used with care!"

Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube have become essential marketing tools for musicians. Billboard magazine publishes a weekly chart -- the Social 50 -- that ranks artists based on their social media movement. The chart has become an important way to measure the success in the industry.

CNN first learned about Streisand's Instagram account through Twitter.